The verdict in three sentences
An online exam application portal for a civil service department or national school in Dakar costs 25 to 70 million FCFA excl. VAT in 2026 (about 38,000 to 107,000 EUR), with a 5-month timeline. The hard part is not the form: it is scaling to 5,000 concurrent users in the last two days, when 40% of the 40,000 candidates log in. A well-built portal removes queues, secures fee collection and halves the document checking workload.
What the portal must do
The candidate journey has six steps: account creation with national ID number, exam selection, application form, document upload (diploma, birth certificate, nationality certificate), fee payment and receipt. On the administration side, you need a document review interface, exam centre management, notice generation and results publication.
| Module | Features | Indicative 2026 budget (FCFA excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate accounts and identity | Sign-up with national ID and phone, SMS OTP | 2.5 to 6 M |
| Form and supporting documents | Per-exam application, format checks, photo compression | 3 to 8 M |
| Fee payment | Wave, Orange Money, Free Money, card, automatic reconciliation | 3 to 7 M |
| Application review | Per-agent work queue, rejection reasons, requests for missing items | 4 to 10 M |
| Centres and notices | Allocation by centre, PDF notices with QR code, SMS | 3 to 8 M |
| Results publication | Shortlists and final lists, search by number | 1.5 to 4 M |
| High availability architecture | Caching, virtual waiting room, load tests | 5 to 15 M |
| Security and audit | Penetration tests, logging, CDP compliance | 3 to 12 M |
The high end corresponds to a multi-exam platform (several schools or ministries) with civil registry interoperability and an external security audit.
Architecture and peak hosting costs
Session traffic is highly concentrated: about 60% of applications arrive in the last 5 days. The architecture must absorb the peak without paying all year for oversized infrastructure.
| Component | Role at peak | Monthly cost off-session (FCFA excl. VAT) | Monthly cost in session (FCFA excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application servers (autoscaling) | 2 instances idle, 8 to 12 at peak | 150,000 | 600,000 to 900,000 |
| Managed database with replica | Reads offloaded to the replica | 120,000 | 250,000 to 350,000 |
| Document storage (object) | 40,000 files, about 3 MB each, 120 GB | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| CDN and cache | Static pages, published results | 15,000 | 80,000 to 150,000 |
| Virtual waiting room | Throttles access beyond 5,000 sessions | 0 | 100,000 to 200,000 |
| SMS (OTP, receipt, notice) | 3 SMS per candidate, about 15 FCFA each | 0 | 1,800,000 |
| Total | about 305,000 | about 2.9 to 3.5 M |
With two one-month sessions a year, the annual operating budget is around 9 to 11 million FCFA excl. VAT, including application maintenance. Hosting in the national datacenter is possible if sovereignty policy requires it, with less flexible scaling.
5-month plan
Scoping and rules for each exam in 3 weeks, mock-ups tested with 20 candidates in 2 weeks, development in 10 weeks, load testing and security audit in 3 weeks, agent training and opening in 2 weeks. A load test with 7,500 simulated users (150% of the expected peak) is non-negotiable before opening.
Mini case study
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Mrs Ndiaye, director of a national school in Dakar, receives 40,000 applications per session. On paper, 25 agents working for 6 weeks process the files, about 1,500 agent-days valued at 25,000 FCFA a day: 37.5 M FCFA per session, excluding printing and queues. With a 45 M FCFA excl. VAT portal, online review requires 12 agents for 4 weeks, 240 agent-days and 6 M FCFA. The gain is 31.5 M FCFA per session, minus 5 M FCFA of hosting: the portal pays for itself by the second session.
FAQ
How much does an exam application portal cost in Dakar?
Between 25 and 70 million FCFA excl. VAT in 2026, depending on the number of exams, high availability level and security audit. Budget 9 to 11 million FCFA a year to run two sessions.
Can the portal handle 5,000 concurrent users?
Yes, with autoscaling, caching and a virtual waiting room. A load test at 150% of the expected peak is run before each opening.
How are fees paid?
Via Wave, Orange Money, Free Money or card, with webhook confirmation and an instant receipt. Reconciliation is automatic, which removes paper receipts.
Is candidate data protected?
The portal is declared to the CDP under Senegal's Law 2008-12, with encrypted documents, access logging and a defined retention period.
What about candidates without a smartphone?
Assisted registration points in regional centres and agent data entry cover the 5 to 10% of candidates concerned.
Let's scope your project. We map your exams, volumes and hosting requirements, with an indicative FCFA budget and a 5-month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
